I don't cherry pick but I do shuffle albums together , I have a playlist for new albums each week and I rarely play it in order

That's probably even worse , I don't get that feeling of an album anymore in digital form all my favourite albums I bought on vinyl

Sometimes... Then again if we say that albums should be listened to as a whole does that make the single redundant? That said, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin weren't really that big on singles...

I have had it happen loads of times when I've gotten so used to listening to an album, if I stick a compilation on I'm thrown off by the following track but I disagree with the broad point of the comparison to picking favourite scenes from a film. If you're listening to The Wall which does have a theme and story, fair enough, If you're watching The Meaning Of Life which is all over the place anyway you're not really going to lose any flow by messing about with the order or skipping bits. I agree there are albums out there that are complete and should be treated as a whole piece rather than the sum of its parts, but I think there are far, far more that are more hobbled together than a coherent story or whatever. I do find it interesting how the way people consume albums has changed and is changing though.

Some albums are indeed just a collection of tracks thrown together and that is it. Using a recent example - I love the fact that the SOPHIE album is just literally eight singles that have already been released and the press release goes as far as making that point and distancing itself from being called an album...

And then you do have albums that are indeed proper albums in that they were created as one unified body and intended to be listened to that way - either they are mixed together to be listened to from start to finish, they could be a concept album or carry a common theme, or that was simply how the album is recorded.
Another recent example - Bjork's Vulnicura album literally details the breakdown of her marriage chronologically. Kendrick Lamar's last two albums had larger themes and told fuller stories that you would never grasp if you just threw it on shuffle or just downloaded the singles, and you have countless electronic artists who mix their artist albums purposely to be listened to like a mix.

I am someone who has just full albums on their MP3 player and listens to albums as albums. I also know that people also pick and choose tracks and create their own playlists. My conclusion: listen to music how you want.

For the music you listen to that might well be true, but it isn't the case for all music.

Listening to Pink Floyd's The Wall as a series of random tracks, for example, would make no sense at all because the context of each song as part of a narrative would be lost.

I tend to be the same and prefer to listen to a whole album in order, although I do also have a folder on the phone with just my favorite tracks as well.

As I said earlier there are concept and thematic albums that probably should be listened to in song order. It's hard not to listen to 'Tubular Bells' in order as there are only two parts and they are both long and quite close to a classical form. Still there was a single version of the opening sequence of part 1 and I remember the ghostly carousel section being used as an introduction to a BBC 2 arts prog.

And Rick Wakeman's 'Six Wives of Henry the 8th' should probably be listened to in chronological order of marriages. But just as Henry had his favourites so might the listener.

Most albums just as their name suggests are collections of songs (usually 10-12) and artists often front load what they think are the best tracks. And you seldom find an album where every song is great but there are some.

Interestingly the reason why the running order of The Six wives Of Henry VIII are in the order they are on the album is simply due to the limitations of vinyl! Rick was standing in for Si King on the Hairy Bikers Sunday morning radio show on Planet Rock and he was asked about it by Dave Myers. Rick said the running order was set simply so they had two sides of approximate equal length.

I thought that might be the case but I wasn't sure. It does illustrate the point a about albums being collections.

I notice he didn't change the order on Spotify, nor on the live version.
I have the vinyl version but much as I like Rick as a personality and a musician find the music rather uninspiring. And I was a Yes fan of sorts.

A collection of songs that are written in a similar time period and are placed together in a specific running order with the aim of conveying a certain message or fitting into a chosen theme that is important to the artist.

Albums should be listened to as albums. People who don't listen to albums aren't really into music or don't listen to any artists who's music is worth listening to.

Running order of an album is very important. Proper artists spend a lot of time arranging this.

Naff artists frontload the first part of the album with all the singles.

A first song should sound like a first song. A last song should sound like a last song. The album should flow as such in between.

I don't get this shuffle thing. I do listen to odd songs if I don't have much time and want a quick fix but nothing is my more satisfying than listening to a great album from back to front.

People who cherry pick and shuffle must only listen to 1 style of music. How can you go from 2 extremely different styles in 1 listen. It doesn't make sense.

I only skip tracks if I really hate them or they just don't fit. I find something I like in most songs that make it worth listening to.

End of the day it comes down to how into music you are, how open minded you are, how much of your time you are willing to dedicate to music and how good the artists you like are.

Perhaps now, but it didn't used to be. There was a time when a huge amount of thought went into the running order, but I should imagine most people now lack the attention span to listen to an album for 40+ minutes without simultaneously checking social media, etc.

I have a folder for just single songs that I like. Things like 'Sweet like Chocolate' which are mainly one hit wonders, and are normally on albums I am not keen on.

I also have a lot of compilation albums to listen to songs other than on an single artist album.

The main genre I have as compilation albums is 80s music.

Albums should be listened to whatever way the owner sees fit.

You don't have to play them all the way through every time or indeed, anytime.

If you did you'd never hear an album track on the radio - and I don't think this happens enough as it is!


Often an album will contain a single or three, sometimes none. If you are not supposed to dip into albums but just play them from start to finish then it would be wrong to play those singles at all as they would not be within the context of the other tracks assembled around them on the album. Which, of course, is nonsense, or pretentious twaddle and also problematic as they may well have surfaced before the album anyway!

The same album can be released in different territories or at different times, or via different labels ,with a different track running order, or a different title, or a track omitted / added etc. An album is just a collection of tracks with a total running time of just under half an hour (more common in the early days) up to around seventy-five minutes (in the era of CD). Some are 'concept' albums, many aren't. Concept albums aren't by default better than the rest. If a track can't stand up on in isolation then it may well be little more than filler.



Not true at all. I think a lot of posts here tackle music from a "rock bands vs manufactured pop stars" perspective. Just as some people collect mostly albums, other prefer singles. A great record is a great record regardless of what format it's presented on. A friend of mine with a staggering collection of vinyl isn't much bothered about the LP and feels that most of the best records came out as 45's. I wouldn't argue against that. I do find it a bit odd when people only collect one format (thinking of when vinyl was the default medium) - only LPs, or only 7"s or maybe LPs and 12"s but no 7"s - for me, if I like a track I want it.


Ha; 'proper artists'. It's not necessarily the artists who choose the running order.

Equally music only makes sense and has any value once it is listened to. The meaning that the artist attaches to their music isn't necessarily the same as the listener. Yes, there are some albums that the thematic order does work better than others but the listener is permitted to curate their listening in whatever way they want...from mix tapes to playlists.

In poetry you get this where anthologies are put together of poems that have been published elsewhere. And you get it in visual art where collections of painting are put together for different thematic exhibitions.

The point is that the listener is not devaluing the music by creating their own way of listening to it?

No one has mentioned yet that artists mix up their songs all sorts of ways when they play live but perhaps that is considered a different experience?

Sorry, I can't agree with that, to say a song, if it doesn't work on it's own is filler is completely wrong.
I wrote a song that has 3 parts to it, the beginning and end were written to be heard as part of the finale of the album, in conjunction with the rest of the album to complete the story, but part 2 was written to be a stand alone song as well, so that we could play it at concerts and it could be played on the radio.
Parts 1 and 3, in my (admittedly biased) opinion are beautiful pieces of work, with lovely harmonies but they'd never be played on radio or live, they just wouldn't work, but if you really wanted to, you could listen to them on their own, once you'd heard the rest of the album.
But this is the point, I guess. It's fine to listen to individual songs, play them on shuffle, do whatever you want with them, but I think it's better to listen to the whole album as a complete body of work first, then at least you can understand the song you're listening to a bit better*
Each to their own of course, but in my opinion, you're better off listening to the whole album, a lot of thought will have gone into deciding the running order, I've no idea why someone would think they'd know better
*This doesn't apply to candyfloss pop Of course

Proper artists do yeah. 1D don't. But then not much thought goes into theirs, loads all the singles at the front.

I listen to whole albums, that's why I'm still in the mid 70's.

I think it depends on mood, plus album in question. Some albums have duff tracks I sometimes skip past, but I have a few favourites which are mostly good songs. Sometimes it's nice to put them on shuffle. Makes for some interesting compilations.